Persimmon Salsa

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Just because tomato season is over doesn’t mean you can’t have fresh salsa. If you love fruit salsa, you need to try this persimmon salsa! It’s delicious on everything from tacos and chips to grilled pork chops.

We eat a lot of salsa down here. I mean, a lot. In the land of the breakfast taco (and lunch and dinner taco), it’s actually hard to avoid salsa.

As if you’d want to.

In past years I canned salsa, even though I haven’t quite yet hit upon that perfect recipe for my tastes. This year I didn’t get around to any canning, but it doesn’t mean I can’t have fresh, local salsa. All that’s needed is an adjustment of ingredients.

Enter the persimmon.

what are persimmons?

Persimmons are squat, sweet orange fruits that come into their own in fall. While everyone else around here is on pins and needles waiting for the Rio Grande Valley citrus to ripen, I’m getting excited about persimmons.

In fact, where other people might have a bowl of apples or oranges on the counter during the fall, it’s not unusual to find a bowl of persimmons in my kitchen.

I’ve made Pumpkin Persimmon Walnut Bread, Persimmon Sweet Potato Soup, and Persimmon Chocolate Cake with them. They’re versatile little fruits — I liken them to apples or peaches in their usefulness.

how to make persimmon salsa

The salsa comes together in a flash, with the hardest part being getting the flesh out of the persimmons. If they are firm, you can slice off the tops and peel them like an apple, then dice.

If your persimmons are super ripe, you can easily scoop the flesh out with a spoon. (Be sure to remove any seeds.) A melon baller is also a great tool for this, because then you don’t need to worry about peeling!

My persimmons are different every time I make persimmon salsa. Sometimes the salsa has more liquid, and sometimes it’s more like a pico de gallo. Both ways are perfectly delicious.

When you’re preparing the persimmons for persimmon salsa, don’t worry about any dark flecks you see in the fruit, as in the photo below. It’s completely normal!

The only thing you do need to worry about is choosing your persimmons — this persimmon salsa recipe calls for the squat fuyu variety, which can be eaten while hard.

Increase or decrease the amount of jalapeño depending on your tastes. The one I used was about two inches long, and it provided plenty of heat for this batch.

The sweetness of persimmons varies as well, so be sure to taste your finished persimmon salsa before serving. I used 6 small persimmons, but you might need more.

We enjoyed this persimmon salsa over a pair of gorgeous coppa pork chops from my local butcher, so if tacos aren’t your bag, keep the recipe in your pocket for grilled meats, or just serve with chips.

(Although you really can’t go wrong with persimmon salsa on goat tacos, in my opinion.)

more persimmon recipes

If my persimmon salsa recipe has you craving more persimmon recipes, not to worry!

In addition to my persimmon recipes above, you should check out Persimmon and Pumpkin Pudding Cake, Persimmon Ginger Gin Fizz, and Persimmon Apple Cider Mimosa from some of my fellow bloggers.

Enjoy this salsa with tacos, homemade tortilla chips, or over your favorite grilled meats or seafood.

This recipe was originally posted October 30, 2013 and last updated December 6, 2018.